Six Seed Soda Bread for #BreadBakers

This month Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories is hosting the #BreadBakers event and selected ‘Seeds’ as our theme.  I figured to truly get into the spirit I should pick a recipe loaded with different kinds of seeds.  Given that next week is St. Patrick’s Day I thought this would be as good a time as any to finally make a soda bread.  If you’re unfamiliar with soda bread it is a quick bread often made with buttermilk that is leavened by baking soda (particularly popular in Ireland).

St. Patrick’s Day in Ann Arbor is often accompanied by a few weeks of false spring.  Yesterday it got into the mid 40s and it is supposed to get close to 60 by the middle of the week.  This is especially crazy considering it was about 60 degrees cooler just a few days ago!  But every year without fail this early/mid March warm weather is followed by a few more weeks of cold (and sometimes snow).

This loaf has made me very excited to try other soda breads; considering how easy they are to make I’m not sure why it took me so long to try them.  It has a satisfying and dense crumb that smells like buttermilk but when you bit into it releases a wave of different tastes and smells.  This recipe calls for sunflower, poppy, pumpkin, fennel, sesame, and flax seeds that each lend a unique flavor to the finished product.  Even though they are one of my favorite things I was glad that the fennel seeds didn’t overshadow everything else.

In order to avoid getting caught like Ned Flanders and his two alarm chili, I’ll admit now that this is actually five seed bread; I realized while eating the first slice that I had completely forgotten to add the sesame seeds.  I really like the way the seeds baked into the cracks of the loaf and how simple it was to put together.  The dough takes just a minute or two to mix by hand and then into the oven it goes.  No need to worry about rise times or yeast activity.

My only other concern with the loaf going in was the cost of ingredients.  I went to the People’s Food Co-op down the street from us to get each of the seeds and was pleasantly surprised to find that in total it cost me just over $3.  After two days there is only half a loaf left so it was certainly a worthwhile investment.  Scroll down past the recipe to see what the other #BreadBakers were up to this week!

Six Seed Soda Bread (Makes 1 Loaf)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Tbsp EACH of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, and flax seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
• 2 C AP flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 3/4 C buttermilk

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.  In a small bowl combine all the seeds and set aside.

Mix the flours, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.  Add all but 2 tablespoons of the seed mix.  Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough starts to come together.  Turn out onto a work surface (or stay in the bowl if it is big enough) and knead lightly for a minute, until there are no dry bits of flour.

Loosely shape the dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.  Score it deeply with an X pattern, cutting about 2/3 of the way through the dough.  Brush with a bit of buttermilk and sprinkle the remaining seeds on top.

Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden crusted on top and bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe courtesy of 101 Cookbooks.

Here is what the other #BreadBakers were up to!

• Amaranth Banana Nut Quick Bread from Magnolia Days
• Anadama Bread from Baking in Pyjamas
• Bird Seed Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Crunchy Seed Braid from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Everything Dutch Oven Bread from Chef Mireille’s East West Realm
• Hearty Seed Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Khobz Mzaweq – Moroccan Decorated Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Chia Quick Bread from Basic N Delicious
• Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Bread from A Baker’s House
• Lemon Poppy Seed Bread from The PinterTest Kitchen
• Makowiec – Polish Poppy Seed Bread from Sweet Cinnamon & Honey
• Multigrain and Seed Bread Extraordinaire from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Multigrain Bread with Flaxseeds from Cooking Club
• Pain Petri (Moroccan Challah) from Passion Kneaded
• Seeded Club Soda Bread from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Sesame Studded Grissini from Ruchik Randhap
• Simit – Turkish Ring Bread from Spice Roots
• Six Seed Soda Bread from Bakers and Best
• Sunflower Seed Bread from My Catholic Kitchen
• Sunflower Seed Bread from Kids and Chic

What is Bread Bakers? It’s a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Bread Bakers Pinterest Board. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

How is the monthly theme determined? We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Would you like to join in the fun? If you are a food blogger, send an email with your blog name and url to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.